Limb, Sue. Girl, 15, charming but insane

Kliatt, July, 2004 by Claire Rosser

LIMB, Sue. Girl, 15, charming but insane. Random House, Delacorte. 214p. c2004. 0-385-73214-7. $15.95. JS

What are the odds that we would be reviewing two novels about stand-up comics in this issue? (See Comedy Girl by Ellen Schreiber, below.) Jess lives in England, and her humor is lovably wacky. Her best friend Flora is extremely beautiful, and the inspiration for much of Jess's self-deprecating humor. Jess has another good friend, Fred, who has been her companion since they were together in nursery school. Fred, like Jess, is highly intelligent but slightly awkward socially. To set the scene, each chapter begins with a text note from Jess's father (he sends her a ""horrorscope" each day). For example, "Virgo: Your boogers will grow legs and walk about on your face." Much of the humor is earthy. Here's a scene: Jess wants to create some cleavage as she dresses for a party, so she looks around the kitchen for something to stuff into her bra. She decides on minestrone soup in baggies for just the right effect. Unfortunately, a boy at the party feels her up and the baggie breaks and she rushes to the bathroom to clean up the soup. (He thinks somehow she has vomited--how else to explain the sudden appearance of minestrone soup?) But another nasty boy has set up a camera in the girls' bathroom and all this cleaning soup off breasts is captured on film--Jess has to find a way to retrieve the video before anyone can see it. This is where Fred comes in, but many misunderstandings between Jess and Fred ensue before the happy ending.

And this is how Jess describes her wonderful granny who has come to live with them: "Granny's character was mostly sweet old-fashioned fussiness with a dash of horror. She trawled through the newspapers for gory details of murder mysteries.... She had watched the video of Pulp Fiction seven times while knitting pink fluffy baby socks for the charity shop." Jess's stand-up routine is a skit about creating a personal ad ... hence the title. At many points in this crazy novel, the reader will laugh out loud--that's a promise. Claire Rosser, KLIATT